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The self defined, modern rock band that favors the heavy stuff, RED, heads out on tour in support of their second major label record, “Innocence & Instinct.” This quintet has made their presence known by harnessing the heavy elements of their rock and metal roots while allowing organic elements to make appearances in their music. The use of keyboards and various orchestral instruments are commonly heard throughout their music. It is in the guitar progressions that the true elements of heaviness come out and their influences, ranging from Mozart to the Deftones, start to really surface. As Jasen Rauch (guitar) explains, the new album is congruent with their previous material, but the sound is maturing.

I consider myself fortunate to have seen one of the first gigs by the new Jake E. Lee project, Red Dragon Cartel, January 24th at The Grove in Anaheim. The band was tight and full of attitude as they blasted through their new material, in a set peppered with highlights from Jake’s past work with Badlands and Ozzy Osbourne. I had the opportunity to catch up with vocalist Darren James Smith before the group starts it’s initial tour, which hits Wisconsin on Friday, March 21 , at the Back Bar in Janesville, with openers Convoy and Hessler.

Maximum Ink: You were originally a drummer, and you’re from Canada, correct?D.J. Smith: I toured the planet with a band called Harem Scarem, out of Toronto. I had left the band back in 2002 [or] 2003. My last show with them was in Japan, and I had an opportunity to sing for a band called Juice, that was signed to BMG. I wanted to try something different. I just did a 20 year reunion tour with Harem Scarem, just prior to starting with the Jake band.

MI: From what I’ve been reading, it seems that there was a Facebook post about Jake starting a new band, and all these people replied wanting the gig. That seems bizarre, is that really what happened?DJ: I didn’t see any of that! Here in Canada, we have a franchise of music stores called Long & McQuade, and my buddy Kevin Simpson is the manager of the one in Oshawa, the town I live in. I went in there and he said, “Hey man, Jake E. Lee is looking for a singer”, and I’m like, “Yeah, so? Why are you telling me?” I figured it was a long shot, if anything. Anyway, I sent [something] in, and 12 hours later, my phone rang. I sent a video I shot with a band called Bastard, and it was a real sleazy, punk-rocky, in-your-face, rock tune and video (“L.A. Whore”). YouTube actually labeled it “Most Shocking” Rock Video. I don’t think it’s that shocking, but it definitely has no taste! (laughing) So, they saw that, and apparently they liked it.

Imagine growing up in the old Soviet Union and playing Rock and Roll music? But you have a bigger dream, to play Rock and Roll in the country where it all started, The United States of America.

That’s what the Red Elvises did and have been making America a better place to live. The “now” Venice Beach, California based band have been taking their Eastern Europe style of Rock and Roll to everywhere and anywhere they can plug in their amplifiers. “We speak the language that people understand,” said Oleg, the former balalaika player.

Oleg Bernov, Igor Yuzoz and Zhenya Kolykhanov have throughout their Red Elvises career, played bass, guitar, and lead guitar respectively, but now because of the loss of their longtime American drummer Avi Sills, the Red Elvises all take turns playing bass, drums and guitar. “Now it’s a 3 piece band,” said Oleg. “Our American drummer is gone, spontaneously combusted like in Spinal Tap.”

I first heard Red Sun Rising’s “The Otherside” on the radio, driving to work. My first thoughts were “this reminds me of Alice in Chains”. But then, when the verse built up to that first soaring note of the chorus, and then Mike Protich hit that note dead on, my mouth dropped.
The melody was flawless. Mike was flawless. And I wrote my publisher as soon as I got home, telling him that I wanted to do a piece on this newly emerging band, Red Sun Rising, and that I’d do all the leg work to make it happen.

The sign on the door read, “REPTILE PALACE ORCHESTRA appearing every weekend this month. Please come and enjoy their eclectic mix of traditional and original world music that rocks. Elvis + Armenia + Funkadelic + Bulgaria = RPO.”

I didn’t recognize the band name, but I decided to check it out anyway. They were already on-stage. Dancers grouped in front of the stage as the band launched into their next number, which the lovely lady singing, announced as “Kochari.” The dance floor came alive as body parts were swung to and fro. More numbers followed fusing world music and ethnic styles. One song was in Spanish, the next from Bulgaria, then another in Armenian. Then Turkish, Finnish, English, Italian, Greek, and occasionally a song in a gypsy dialect. As the band played on, I tracked down a bartender and asked him to tell me more about the band.

The Residents have kept their identity secret for twenty-eight years. They have no faces, no gender, no race and no personality. This decision was reached because they wanted a separation between their personal and professional lives. Anonymity was and is their only rule. These faceless anti-stars have stood on the fringes of the music world happily releasing their often-disturbing music to critical acclaim. They are supposedly originally from Shreveport, Louisiana, and one is the father of Siamese Twins. Maybe one is a former Protestant Minister and another has one of the largest model railroad collections in the world.

Regarded by many to be the original pioneers of the music video, The Residents produced their first video in 1972 (Vileness Fats), but really came into their own when they released Third Reich ‘n Roll in 1977. In this video, the band is dressed entirely in newspapers, as well as the instruments and set. There is crude stop action animation filmed in black and white color that makes the hair on your neck stand up.

He genuinely enjoys music - writing it, performing it, and recording it. He is steadfastly loyal to and respectful of his fans. But Jim Heath - better known as the Reverend Horton Heat - has some real issues with the two dominant forces in contemporary music: technology and corporate control. In a recent telephone interview from his home in Dallas, he discussed how these elements have alienated him from the mainstream - for better and for worse.

“Since we did our first record, the Internet and web sites have become more important,” Heath said. “But I’m confused about the Internet. I think the way it’s looking, the music will eventually just be free, and that’s not an easy pill for the industry to swallow,” he said. “For us, we don’t rely a lot on the recordings - we get our revenue off tickets and merchandise. I’m so far from the industry, I don’t have the slightest idea of what will happen. But these bands could stand to lose millions.”

An explosion of computer technology in the studio also has Heath riled up. “Since the 1970s and 80s, we’ve been moving into a world where it’s not the sound of the live band,” he lamented. “You put down the drum tracks, then throw in other loops - it takes fuckin’ forever for an album. It’s defining how music is being written and composed. And all they’re doing is turning knobs, while kick-ass players - people with real talent - are passé. It’s those posing knob-turners who are being marketed.” Brace yourself, folks - he points to one of the iconic rock acts as establishing the trend. “Sit and listen to a Led Zeppelin album - they had three guitar parts and three vocal parts on the records. It was all done with overdubbing. I question the validity of that - when you realize that it can’t be reproduced live. Technology has taken music to a weird place - way out there.”